North Canterbury News: February 01, 2024

16 The
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North Canterbury News, February 1, 2024
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On form ... Hema Laxon shows his form that brought him first
place in the Junior section of the Hurunui Manu Champs, with
Marcus and Will Smallwood pictured on the manu platform.
PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Manu champs
By JOHN COSGROVE
The Hurunui Manu Champs
held at the MainPower
AmberleyPool on Saturday,
turned into afamily affair with
two sets of siblings earning
places at the regional heat of
the ZManuWorld Champs.
Will andMarcus Smallwood,
and Hema and Tekaia Laxon,
will be joining Jock Waghorn at
the regional heats next Friday
inChristchurch.
Hurunui Council Customer
Services Manager Naomi
Woodham said style, form,
highestsplash and pop decibel
level were considered by
judges Mayor Marie Black,
Councillor Pauline White and
Council officer Kerry Walsh in
determining the winners.
Brothers Will and Marcus
won the Youth section.
Rangiora High student Will
says they started training a
month prior to the champs.
‘‘We’dgointhree to four
times aweek, mostly to the
AmberleyPool, and also to
Jellie Park and local swimming
holes.
‘‘We’d warm up and do some
competition manus, trying to
picture our form as we did it.
We took turns to video each
other andthen we’d go over the
videos.’’
He says they were just doing
something they enjoyed.
‘‘We put some work into it
and managed to get the results
we were after,’’ says Will.
For Hema Laxon, who was
placed first in the Junior
section, going throughwith her
brother Tekaia, says the secret
of success was alifetime of
practice.
‘‘I have been doing manus
since Iwas little. Ialways try to
beat my brothersand dad when
we go swimming.’’
Will says he and Marcusare
aware of what’s coming in
Christchurch.
‘‘We’ve seen on Facebook
and other social media and
watched some of the pops and
manus —and they’re looking
pretty good.’’
Mayor Marie Black said she
was backing Hurunui‘‘to the
hilt’’ for the next round of manu
champs.
‘‘We’ve got the talent and the
focus to take it throughtothe
finish. We might be asmall
district in terms of our
demographics, but that won’t
be holding us back,’’ Mayor
Black said.
The Christchurch heat takes
place February 9to11atJellie
Park.
Results were:
Overall winner: Will
Smallwood.
Junior Section (10­12 years):
Hema Laxon, 1, Jock Waghorn
2.
Youth Section (13­17 years):
Will Smallwood, 1, Marcus
Smallwood, 2.
Adult section: Kerry Tremayne,
1. Spot Prize for Best Twist:
Arai Youle.
Making magic ... Arthur Linnell, of Rangiora, behind his Fairy
HouseFronts stall at the Vintage Fair.
PHOTO: SHELLEY TOPP
Vintage Fair popular
By SHELLEY TOPP
Prohibited
Aprohibited fire season has been declared in the
Canterbury area covering the Waimakariri, Hurunui,
Kaikoura and Selwyn Districts, and Christchurch City.
It began at 11.59pm last night (Wednesday, January 31).
This means no open­air fires are allowed and all fire
permits are suspended.
District Commander Dave Stackhouse says there have
been several fires in Canterbury over the past few weeks,
and there is little to no relief forecast for the next two
months.
Hot, dry, and windy weather is expected to continue,
causing vegetation to dry out.
In these conditions fires spread quickly and are hard to
control.
Avoid doing any works that may cause sparks during the
heat of the day and always have away to extinguish any
fire that may start, he says.
People should also be prepared to evacuate their
properties if they are threatened by wild fire.
Four North Canterbury
charitable organisations and a
sports team have benefited
from another bumper vintage
fair held at Rangiora
Racecourse.
The second Vintage Fair
North Canterbury was held last
Sunday with 42 stalls taking
part at the indoor/outdoor
event, and alarge crowd
attendingduring the day.
All stallholders'fees are to be
donated equally to Canterbury
Tail Animal Rescue, based at
Eyrewell Forest, the Dementia
Support Group in Oxford, and
CompassFM’s ‘‘Handbags For
Hope.’’
The Rangiora St John
Opportunity Shop was given a
free stall for the day to sell
items to raisefunds for its
work, and Northern Phoenix
Dragon Boating were also given
afree stall to hold asausage
sizzle to raise funds to compete
at the Dragon Boat Nationals at
Lake Karapiro this April.
It is the second vintage fair
held in Rangiora. The
inaugural event, which was
held at the racecourse in
October last year benefited
North Canterbury Riding For
The Disabled and was also
attended by alarge crowd. The
next Vintage Fair North
Canterbury, which will benefit
more North Canterbury
charitable organisations, is to
be held at the racecourse on
Sunday April 14, a
spokeswoman said.
Amber Haustein
Administration
Mark Glanville
FDNZ cert, Reg. FD (FDANZ)
Lacation Manager,
Funeral Director
Christine Staines
Funeral Director